We’ve won another accolade!

Ernst & Young impressed by our solar pioneering and social engagement

Coelbe, 29 September 2011 – Wagner & Co has been named German “2011 Entrepreneur of the Year” for pioneering solar technology in the country.
We pipped 64 other finalists of 300 entrants to a contest run by Ernst & Young, one of the world’s „Big Four“ accountancy firms.Each year the program recognizes more than 10,000 entrepreneurs in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries.
The renowned award, which Ernst & Young claim as “the first and only truly global award of its kind”, went to nine people who impressed the jurors with technical innovation and entrepreneurial vision.The prizes were awarded on 23 September at a gala festivity inFrankfurt’s major concert venue and former opera house, the Alte Oper, with prominent political and business guests in attendance. “The prizewinners convinced the judges with substantial growth rates but also their engagement with social and ecological projects,” said Wolfgang Glauner, organizer and project leader of the contest.
Andreas Wagner, Sabine Altmann and Udo Geisel of Wagner & Co Solartechnik GmbH were awarded in the category “Trading”. “The trading enterprise is a trailblazer for solar technology inGermany. An ecology movement morphed into a showcase enterprise in the renewables industries,” the jury commented on its choice.

“We are very happy to be chosen ‘2011 Entrepreneur of the Year’ and accept the prize on behalf of all Wagner & Co colleagues. It honors our efforts in the past 30 years as a solar pioneer and employee owned enterprise,” said Andreas Wagner, one of its founders and now one of three elected directors.
Under his leadership, Wagner & Co grew from a student environmental activism initiative into a high-tech business that in a way prepared the ground for the paradigm shift now happening in Germany’s energy economy – for example with innovations like the first series production of solar collectors.
Engineer Wagner, who is also on the board of the German Solar Industry Association, remains an idealist holding to his ecological vision. “The success of the soft way,” as he puts it, was more important to him than mere profit. “We want to contribute to that with technologically mature and value-for-money solar equipment.”
Following legislation to shut down all German nuclear power stations by 2022, the German solar energy industry has some heavy lifting ahead. Expansion of the power grids and the changeover from centralized to decentralized power supply is one challenge.

“As a trader in and manufacturer of products like the VARIOsunport, that turns a simple carport into a powerful electricity producer, we want to keep shaping the future. And our chances look good: The VARIOsunport embodies the results of 30 years of successful racking systems development,” explains Udo Geisel, in charge of product management and racking systems development at Wagner & Co.

VARIO SUNport – because the sun also shines on carports

Sustainability remains our linchpin. Across the board, ecological, economic and social sustainability drive the company culture. This holistic entrepreneurial approach has won us many honors, most recently as one of the three most sustainable German brands in the 2010 German Sustainability Award, which is backed by the federal government, trade associations, NGOs, and research facilities.
That’s nothing new, but longstanding practice to Sabine Altmann, a member of the Wagner & Co management board. “Now that everyone’s talking about sustainability, we’ll just keep doing what we’ve always been doing,” she says.